Welcome to Give Him 15. Ceci and I are trying to slow down a little this last week of the year. To help with this, I’ve asked some of the prophetic voices I draw from occasionally on the posts to fill in. If you listen regularly you’ll know the names, even if you haven’t seen their faces before, and you’ll be very blessed by these posts. Enjoy! And I’ll see you next week.
We Will Not Shrink Back, Give Up, or Give In
Jesus Rocked the Boat
Have you ever noticed every time Jesus found himself in a temple, he caused trouble?
In John 2:13-16, we find Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers. He even made a whip and drove them out of the temple. He accused them of making His father’s house a place where thieves do business.
Matthew 23:25 is full of harsh words. Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees - hypocrites, robbers, and self-indulgent.
Is it a good idea to disrupt the livelihood of powerful people and humiliate them publicly, especially people well-connected with the most ruthless government on earth—the Roman empire?
It sure does sound familiar in today’s world, doesn't it? The lives of our children and youth have become a commodity for trade. Churches and so-called ministries who profess to know God and do things "for" God have become a place for showbiz Christianity. It has the appearance of God but His power and His presence are absent from it.
Well, Jesus didn't care that people didn’t like it. In fact, He was doing exactly what He was sent to do—destroy the old priestly order and establish a new one, in His name and through His life.
A New Priesthood
When the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t fast as they did, He answered them, “I haven't come to put new wine into an old wineskin. It would be destroyed. I did not come to patch up your old broken, dilapidated religion. I came to destroy it and replace it with something entirely new—something alive and eternal.”
Many churches today are happy with the old religious ways. I hear people say often, “Give me some of that old-time religion.” I say, no thank you. I want what Jesus is doing today. I want this new and living way that Jesus has brought to the earth called the Kingdom of God. It’s not a religion; it is not full of ordinances and rituals. It is the rule and reign of Jesus the King, through His sons and daughters - that's you and me if you're born again - moving together as one body, expanding His kingdom here on earth.
I want this new wine that Jesus is pouring out. What about you?
John 2:10 reads, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
You see, Jesus did not give them the same old stuff they were drinking. He gave them something better, something symbolic of what He was bringing into the earth, something intoxicating.
Scripture often refers to Holy Spirit as new wine because the Holy Spirit is intoxicating. What does it mean to be intoxicated? (Back in my B.C. days - before Christ - I know exactly what intoxication meant to me then.) Intoxication alters everything about you - how you think, walk, speak, and even the way you spend your money.
Jesus gave us new wine and a new and living priesthood through Holy Spirit. It was not just for an infilling to speak in tongues or heal the sick. It was to bring about a priestly order onto the earth that has been absent since Adam—the Melchizedek priesthood. We must get this priesthood activated for the fire of God to fall in America and in our personal lives.
Jesus is our high priest, not after the Levitical priestly order but after the priestly order of Melchizedek. These are totally different types of the priesthood. Thank God Jesus was born in Judah’s tribe, not in Levi. But Jesus brings another quality that the Levitical priests did not have— eternal life!
According to Hebrews 7:23-25, Jesus “Is able to save forever… and He always lives...” Jesus functions from the power of an endless life and so should we. Hallelujah!
Jesus replaced Levi with Melchizedek. The kingdom operation of the priesthood is no longer under Levi’s order. It operates from the power of an endless life of Jesus. The good news is, we are a part of Jesus’ priesthood after this new order, the order of Melchizedek.
In this new order, the job of priests is to get things legally in place, so that we can step into our kingly anointing and make decrees from Father’s heart that establish His will in the earth. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:5 that we are “living stones, built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood."
Priests intercede, kings make decrees. We are both "kings and priests" according to 1 Peter 2:9. Yet we cannot step into our kingly anointing without understanding the priestly anointing that Father God has given us in our lives through Jesus Christ.
Kingdom vs Religion
This is not a religious function. This is a kingdom function.
Religion wants ordinances.
Religion wants the rituals of Levi’s priesthood.
Religion wants you to go through the steps so that maybe you can please God someday.
Religion wants rituals on Sunday morning—singing, standing, kneeling, praying, hearing - yet leaving the same way we came.
Religion wants us in a holding pattern, waiting for God to change things, when we already have His power working in us and through us.
Christ’s Kingdom Leavens Everything - NOW
This new order of priesthood is powerful because it is not religious. No matter if we are business people, teachers, government officials, stay-at-home parents, artists, or entertainers...whatever sphere of society we inhabit, we carry a priestly and a kingly anointing to establish the glory and dominion of the King, Jesus. This is how God is getting kingdom done.
Luke 10:19 states that you and I have been given authority over the enemy. As kings and priests, we apply that scripture to wherever we find the enemy working - in the government, in our schools, in our economy, in the medical arena; in every facet of society where inequity has taken root. I shake my head in disbelief as to what our society has succumbed to - when I see transsexuals and transvestites indoctrinating our young children, reading them stories that support their lifestyle. I once read of a stripper instructing a third-grade class on how to pole dance. This is not spiritual warfare in the ether somewhere. This is wickedness right under our noses. It is happening in our homes and communities. If you don’t believe me, check your kid’s internet usage and monitor what’s being taught at their school.
As bad as this sounds, here is the good news. We have the power to displace it and overcome it!
God is looking for sons and daughters who will rise up and say, “I will be that priest and king in the sphere of influence God has planted me in. I will be that voice of reason, the hands and feet of God proclaiming His goodness and His authority.
The religious priesthood will not do this. Some Sunday morning pastors may not do this. A professional minister may not ever do this. It has to be Spirit-grown sons and daughters coming to a place where we understand our position, power, and responsibilities. Where we are no longer comfortable coexisting with the ways of the world.
In Revelation 5:10 (NKJV) the John states of Jesus, “You have made us kings and priests to our God, And we shall reign on the earth.”
This is not a post-millennial event; this is a here-and-now event. This is not scheduled for the future. This is now!
Wherever He has given you authority, whatever sphere of influence He has put you in, it is your responsibility to bring the glory and dominion of God to that place. This means not backing down, not being a coward, not trying to coexist.
Pray with me:
Father, we ask today that by Holy Spirit, You would give us the courage to make the shift out of the old way of religion and step into Your Kingdom power which You have provided for us through Jesus Christ - His death and resurrection, His ascension and His sitting down at Your right hand. Amen.
Our Decree:
We decree that we are moving in the power of Jesus’ priesthood which operates from the power of an endless life. We decree that we are new wineskins ready to receive the new wine of Holy Spirit’s empowerment for this fresh revival and awakening He has brought us into. We decree that we will NOT shrink back, give in, give up or give out when it comes to bringing our families and our nation into the purpose of God!
Today’s post was contributed by Greg Hood and taken from his book Rebuilding the Broken Altar. You can find more about Greg here or at greghood.org.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.